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The more we learn about the way our food is produced, packaged, and sold, the more complicated our world seems to become. We live in an age of overabundance, except for those in food deserts; we eat organic food grown by workers laboring under suspect conditions; we grab drive-through burgers made from cows polluting our environment. The nominees for the James Beard Journalism Award in Food, Policy, and the Environment take on some of these hot-button issues, breaking down complex topics to the essential points, and shining a light on the uncomfortable truths we increasingly have to examine.

In this three-part series for Slate, Krissy Clark investigates the players in the food stamp economy, where the largest benefactors are often big box stores like Walmart. From the shoppers struggling to make it through the month to the employees paid so little they have to use food stamps themselves, the series reveals why life at the poverty line is becoming a reality for more and more of America. [Image shown above]

The world needs quinoa for the future, but its native homes of Bolivia and Ecuador need quinoa for the present. Lisa M. Hamilton looks at what this geopolitical standoff means for the future of our global food supply.

Tom Philpott takes a trip out West to examine how the booming almond industry is affecting California’s drought-stricken fields, pitting hedge fund–backed ambitions against the state's delicate watertable.